Chapter 30: Chapter Twenty-Nine ā Darkness Attacks, Sailuoās End
Ling Xi felt like a string about to snap; he could break down at any moment. His deep eyes were full of rage, and the surrounding seawater grew more and more violent, as if he would tear this damned iron cage apart in the next second and swallow the chattering fellow inside!
But Xue Chenxi inside the submarine didn’t notice this at all. His greedy gaze was fixed tightly on the ring on Gu Yunshengās hand, as if it were the path to supreme power.
“So, Mr. Gu, have you decided yet? My patience is limited!” Xue Chenxiās tone carried a hint of perverted excitement. His fingers tapped the control console impatiently, as if urging a grand performance to begin quickly.
“Heh,” Gu Yunsheng looked at the crazed Xue Chenxi on the screen. His heart was tightly strangled by an invisible wire. “The thing you wantāthis ring cannot give it to you.” He knew it was meaningless to talk to a madman. But he had to speak. Even if it was just to delay for a second, it could win a shred of hope for Ling Xi and Sailuo.
“What do you know!” Xue Chenxi seemed to have his sore spot touched. He roared hysterically, “Inside this ring lies the answer Iāve spent my whole life searching for! Don’t you dare try to deceive me!”
The lights inside the submarine were dim, yet Xue Chenxiās face carried a kind of nearly insane pleasure. He licked his lips, his greedy eyes looking as if they would swallow everythingāas if the entire world were held in his hands.
Gu Yunshengās heart sank abruptly, as if falling into a bottomless abyss. He clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white and his teeth chattering. He knew that he couldn’t reason with a madman.
Gu Yunsheng tried his best to suppress the fear and rage within him. He shouted at Xue Chenxi on the screen: “Xue Chenxi, you are a complete madman! You have completely lost your mind!”
“A madman? Hahaha, maybe!” Xue Chenxi laughed wildly. That originally refined and gentle face was now covered with a distorted fanaticism. There was not a shred of guilt in his eyes; instead, they revealed a perverted excitement. He seemed to be immersed in the crazy world he had constructed, unable to pull himself out. “Only a madman can break the shackles of the old world! Only a madman can create a new era! Only a madman can overturn the world!”
Gu Yunshengās silence made Xue Chenxiās smile instantly become sinister. “Won’t shed a tear until you see the coffin, right? Then Iāll send you a grand gift!”
He then pressed another red button on the control console. A piercing alarm instantly echoed through the entire submarine, and a cold mechanical voice pronounced death:
[Sailuo, Killing System activated!]
Gu Yunshengās heart constricted sharply, and a strong sense of unease submerged him. He only then discovered that a metal device flashing with red light had been implanted into the back of Sailuoās neck at some unknown time. The moment the device lit up, Sailuoās originally clear eyes were covered by a terrifying blackness. Eerie black lines faintly appeared in the whites of his eyes, moving over his eyeballs like living creatures. It was hair-raising to behold.
Gu Yunsheng shouted Sailuoās name in despair, trying to wake his controlled mind: “Sailuo! Look at me! Don’t be controlled!” He was anxious as if his heart were on fire, wanting to break through all obstacles and rush to Sailuoās side to stop this nightmare-like slaughter, but he was held tightly by Ling Xi.
Ling Xiās face was as pale as paper. He could feel the pain emanating from Sailuo; it was a resonance from the depths of their bloodline. With trembling hands, he quickly formed seals. Under his control, the surging seawater formed a solid barrier in front of him and Gu Yunsheng, encircling Sailuo as well, separated from them by only a wall of water.
Gu Yunsheng looked at Sailuoās pained state in agony. His eyes were full of struggle and pain. He watched as Sailuo was swallowed by darkness, yet he was powerless. He was filled with self-reproach, regret, and endless remorse. He had clearly saved Sailuo; why didn’t he care for him a bit more? Why didn’t he discover the abnormality on him? Why didn’t he notice Xue Chenxiās conspiracy earlier?
Following that, a painful roar came from Sailuoās throat. He held his head with both hands, struggling painfully within the barrier. His body seemed to be being torn apart. His muscles expanded at a speed visible to the naked eye, and blue veins bulged on his skin as if something were about to burst out of his body.
“AaaahāKill! Kill them!”
Xue Chenxiās crazed roar came from the submarine, echoing through the seawater like a death knell, slicing through Sailuoās nerves over and over again.
Ling Xiās eyes were blood-red. The seawater in his hands turned into countless ice blades, madly cutting at the submarine. The hard metal made an unbearable groaning sound as if it would be torn apart in the next second.
“Itās useless! Sailuo! Kill them, and youāll be free!” Xue Chenxiās voice was full of malicious temptation, like an invisible hand wanting to drag Sailuo into an endless abyss.
“Kill… kill…” Sailuo struggled painfully, his eyes hollow. The fish-bone arrow in his hand trembled, yet he didn’t shoot it for a long time.
The seawater around the submarine churned. A massive whirlpool gradually formed like a man-eating beast, wanting to swallow everything. The submarine shook violently, and the alarm was sharp and piercing, like a wail of despair.
Gu Yunsheng grabbed onto a coral reef tightly. His face was pale, yet he still stubbornly stared at Sailuo, his eyes full of worry and pain. “Sailuo… don’t listen to him… come back…” Gu Yunshengās voice was submerged by the seawater, yet it still stubbornly conveyed his plea.
Seeing this, Ling Xi grabbed Gu Yunshengās wrist and pulled him behind himself. His voice trembled severely: “Are you crazy?! He doesn’t recognize anyone now! Do you want to die?!”
“But Sailuoāhe did this for me…” Gu Yunshengās voice choked up. His tears dissolved in the seawater, leaving no trace. He didn’t want to see Sailuo saved by him only to be unable to escape the fate of being a killing machine.
“Shut up!” Ling Xi roared, interrupting his words. The pain and struggle in his eyes, however, couldn’t be hidden.
Sailuo moved. He raised the fish-bone arrow, and the point was aimed right at Ling Xiās heart!
“Noā!” Gu Yunshengās heart-wrenching cry echoed through the open seabed. In the next second, he had already swum over recklessly, using his own body to block Ling Xi.
Puchiā!
The sound of the fish-bone arrow piercing into his shoulder blade was something Ling Xi would never forget for the rest of his life. Blood dyed the azure seawater red, and it also dyed his eyes.
“Yunsheng!” Ling Xiās hands trembled as he wanted to touch Gu Yunshengās wound, but he was grabbed by him. “I beg you… don’t hurt Sailuo…” Every word Gu Yunsheng spoke caused his brow to furrow in pain, yet he still gripped Ling Xiās hand tightly as if using all his strength.
Ling Xiās heart felt as if it were being torn into two halvesāone half was bone-eroding pain, the other half was desperate cold. The human had actually disregarded his own life just to save him!
“You are begging me… for him?!” Ling Xiās voice was trembling. He knew Sailuo was being controlled, but having seen with his own eyes Gu Yunsheng being injured for his sake, how could he still stay calm!
“Sailuo… he didn’t mean it…” Gu Yunshengās voice grew weaker and weaker, and his consciousness gradually blurred, yet he kept repeating this sentence over and over, as if to carve it into the depths of Ling Xiās soul.
Ling Xi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, only endless coldness and decisiveness remained. He slowly raised his hand. An eerie blue light gathered at his fingertips, finally turning into a pillar of light that enveloped Sailuo…
“Noā!” Gu Yunsheng cried out, wanting to stop it, but it was already too late. The pillar of light dissipated, and Sailuoās figure disappeared with it, leaving only a stretch of empty seawater.
Ling Xi closed his eyes, letting sorrow and pain submerge him.
“Xue Chenxi!” Ling Xi didn’t have time to grieve. He opened his eyes again, which were now full of cold killing intent. He controlled the seawater, forming a massive whirlpool that swept toward the submarine.
The submarine trembled violently, as if an invisible palm were crushing it.
“Useless! Truly useless! To be killed so easily by Ling Xiāyouāre simply trash!” Xue Chenxi cursed in frustration. His eyes were fixed on the surveillance screen at a small black dot that was growing smaller and smallerāthat was the last image of Sailuo falling into the seabed abyss.
“Damn it! Move for me! Move quickly!” Xue Chenxi shook the control lever madly, attempting to control the submarine. However, everything was in vain. The control lever seemed as if it had been welded shut; it wouldn’t move at all.
The submarine was still vibrating violently, as if grabbed by an invisible hand and dragged continuously into the depths of the seabed. Xue Chenxi looked out the window in despair. In the originally azure seawater, it was now pitch-black like ink. The bone-chillingly cold seawater seemed like venomous snakes coiling around his body, making him feel suffocated.
“No… I don’t want to die here…” Xue Chenxiās eyes were full of terror. He didn’t want to die, and he especially didn’t want to die in the sunless seabed. However, reality was cruel. No matter how he struggled, he couldn’t change the fact of the submarineās fall.
“Itās over… everything is over…” Despair, like a breached sea, completely submerged him. Just then, a sharp pain hit him. A flying metal fragment pierced deep into his arm. Blood dyed the control console red, and it also dyed his last hope red.
“No! I can’t die! Ling Xi! Gu Yunsheng! Iām going to go back alive! Iāll have blood for blood!” The desire to survive made him explode with amazing power. He tremblingly pressed the escape button. The hatch door opened with a crash. The massive water pressure almost tore him apart.
Xue Chenxi struggled to crawl into the escape pod, but the hatch door got stuck at that moment, making a desperate sound of twisting metal.
“Noā!!” His roar was swallowed by the seawater. He could only watch as he and the escape pod were dragged together into the endless abyss by that ruthless suction…
“Damn it! How could you be so foolish as to block the arrow…” Ling Xiās tone carried a hint of blame, but even more so, worry. His handsome face was covered in gloom, and his deep blue eyes were full of heartache. He had never thought that one day he would lose his composure because of this human.
However, Gu Yunshengās consciousness was gradually blurring, yet he could still feel the temperature from Ling Xiās body and the force as if wanting to rub him into his bone and blood. He tried his best to pull out a smile, but it pulled on his wound, making him groan in pain.
“Don’t… don’t worry… I… Iām fine…” Gu Yunsheng said intermittently, his voice as weak as a mosquitoās buzz.
Ling Xi stopped speaking. He no longer paid attention to the submarine behind them that was slowly sinking into the seabed, nor did he care whether Xue Chenxi lived or died. He only wanted to take Gu Yunsheng away from here and find A-Yuan to help save him. He only wanted to save the boy who had blocked the arrow for him.
“Hold onto me.” Ling Xi said in a low voice, his tone carrying an unquestionable dominance. Gu Yunsheng nodded weakly, but his hands no longer had any strength.
Seeing this, Ling Xi could only hold Gu Yunsheng tightly and swim in the opposite direction. That was the direction of the Black Seaāthe territory of his rival, A-Yuan. But at this moment, only A-Yuan could save Gu Yunshengās life.
Just then, Ling Xi keenly perceived an unfamiliar aura rapidly approaching. He suddenly turned his head, only to see a massive black shadow rushing toward them…
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